Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Lemonade Invitation and an Apology

The Front Porch Reveal



I'd like to apologize. 

You are all my friends and I have let you down. For this, I'm truly sorry.

How have I let you down, you might be asking?

Well, back in April my husband ripped the front steps off the house

I was shocked and thrilled and I got all of you excited about the possibilities too.

Then I teased you with snippets of our progress

I even gave you all our deadline for finishing our few Miner major adjustments…2 weeks.

Those 2 weeks came and went and now it's 4 months later, but still no porch pictures for you.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

A Six-Word Love Story…Hers



Remember the movie, "Phenomenon"?

John Travolta (George) and Kyra Sedgwick (Lace).

What a movie. I still cry every time I watch it. 

Lace got really mad at George when she saw all the chairs she made, that he had bought, piled up in his house. She didn't yet understand that he was madly in love with her. That it was a metaphor for his love.


Towards the end when George was dying, Doc got fed up with Bains and the other guys gossiping about him. 

Doc said to Bains, "Lace is sticking with him. You know why? Because he bought her chairs. It’s pretty smart to me. Did you ever buy Lisa’s chairs? You see, every woman has her chairs, something she needs to put herself into, Bains. Did you ever figure out what Lisa’s chairs were and buy 'em?"  



Monday, July 22, 2013

A Six Word Love Story…His




The night I met him was a sweet summer night.

I didn't know it at the time, but 16 years later I have come to realize that his heart’s six-word love story was written that night.

After meeting him at my favorite fraternity house, we went downtown to play darts and talk.

The whole of the conversation eludes me...maybe I was super nervous because he was so cute or maybe it has just been too long to remember all the details, but I do remember this part...

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Six-Word Love Stories


Last year, Layla from The Lettered Cottage wrote a post about six-word love stories that were in the book, 2 , that her friends wrote.

We were so inspired, Matt and I wrote our own six-word love stories for our anniversary gift to each other last year.

It only took me an extra 379 days to make the canvas of our best stories.

There are stories behind our stories.

Please came back on Monday to read "his story".





PS...I made a few Miner adjustments to my story on the canvas. The first one didn't tell a particular story that we could remember.  This one does.

Friday, July 19, 2013

Sweet Summer Days…

The Story of When My Life Began



Many love stories start during the sweet summer.

Sweet summer days at the beach.

Sweet summer nights sitting by the camp fire.

Sweet summer evenings on the roof of your favorite fraternity house.

And after a long shift at the shoe store, a thousand years ago at a college far far away, I found myself walking to that fraternity house.

All of my sorority sisters were already there and I could hear them, but couldn't find them in the giant house.

So, I took my cute-green-tank-top-short-shorts-flip-flop-wearing-self upstairs.

Out the second floor window I saw a ladder leading to the roof. 


Monday, July 15, 2013

6 Things We Couldn't Live Without in Disney World


Remember how we made it to Disney and back with just 2 suitcases for 4 people for 7 days?

True story!

I got a lot of emails from people asking me about the size of our suitcases… they are medium/large, but fit in the overhead on the plane, so technically we didn't have to check them.

But our suitcases didn't just have our clothes.

There were a few other things that I couldn't live without in Florida.



{1} Ponchos

It rained almost everyday while we were there.

And I think that Disney World is the only place on the face of the earth where people go about their business in the middle of a thunderstorm… including going swimming. At home we would run for cover.

We got our ponchos at the Dollar Store. They weren't as sturdy as the ponchos sold at the park, but they were $1 as opposed to $15.

And they fit in my bag.

{2} Speaking of Bags….

I used a smallish/medium bag with zipping pockets and an adjustable strap that I could where cross-body or shorten the strap and make it a waist pack.  It held a water bottle, the ponchos, snacks, phone, and my travel wallet. Hands free fun!

{I went all semi-fanny pack…and it felt so good!}



{3} Wicking clothes

It is hot in Florida.

{I know. Hi, my name is Captain Obvious.}

The days that I wore wicking shirts and socks were days that I was way more comfortable than when I wore cotton. 

{4} Stroller

My boys are 7 and 5. Too old for a stroller? Not for Disney. According to my mom’s pedometer we walked approximately 50 miles in 5 days!

The house we rented had a stroller available…what luck! The boys traded on and off, but one day we rented a stroller at the park so that they both had one.

Honestly, for the older kids the park strollers were better….they were sturdy plastic with bigger wheels that were easier to turn.

And if you are hopping to another park hold onto your receipt and you can pick up another stroller at the new park on the same day for no extra charge! What a life saver!

{5} Glow sticks

It drives me bananas to pay $10 or more for glow stick products at theme parks.

I almost had a heart attack when my 5 year old bought a blinking light up Mohawk head band for $10 with his souvenir money.

But hey...it was his money.

{Has he actually worn it? No.
He says he doesn't want to look silly. Really?}

So I stocked up on glow sticks…again at the Dollar Store. It kept the kids busy while we were waiting for the Electric Lights Parade.




{6} Babysitting for the Kids

And the most important thing that we couldn't live without on this trip...a parent's night out! But how do you do that when you want to go out with all the adults you are traveling with?

Kid's Night Out...there are many resorts that over this. But the one we found was amazing....The Neverland Club. It is at the Polynesian Resort which is right at the main gates of Disney...walking distance actually.

Plus you can get the bus to Downtown Disney from the resort. The kids can go frm 4pm-12pm. It is $11.50 per kid per hour.  {Totally worth it!}They are served dinner and the play and play and play. The kids had an amazing time. So
 did we!





What are some of your must haves for Disney World? I would love to hear, so I can add them to my list for our next trip.










PS...Before we went on this trip we also had a visit from a mouse...in our house! Most people would not think finding a mouse would be fun, but it was!

Sunday, July 7, 2013

How to Pack 2 Suitcases for 4 People for a 7 Day Vacation


Last week was a fun, crazy, exhausting and memory filled week for us.

My parents took the whole family (thank you, thank you, a million times…thank you) to Disney World.  

Since this was the first plane ride for the kids, I really didn't want to deal with 4 suitcases.

So I thought and planned and made a few Miner adjustments to the packing. 

I was able to get all of our clothes in just 2 suitcases.

Really...2 suitcases for 4 people for 7 days.


Photo by Dennis Ure

Saturday, July 6, 2013

There's a Mouse in the House!


Remember how excited you were on the last day of school or at Christmas or on your birthday when you were a kid?

Maybe you even still feel that way…I sure do.

Of course, I wanted my boys to feel that excited for our trip to Disney World. 

We took our first trip last week and what an amazing adventure it was.

However, I don't think they quite understood how magical it was really going to be before we left.

So I made a few Miner adjustments to the Elf on a Shelf…

instead we had a Mouse in the House.



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